Seventh-day Adventist schools in Victoria (ASV) has continued to flourish over the past four years. Despite a challenging economy and the significant impact of COVID 19, we can see God’s continued blessing on our schools. It has been particularly gratifying to see a few our schools that have struggled in the past, not only begin to grow but to thrive. There has been rapid development and improvement in quality infrastructure in our schools. Three new Early Learning Centres (ELC’s) have significantly contributed to the sustainability of our education system.
“I believe,” says our Education Director, Brian Mercer, “we are continually fulfilling our mission which is to create a thriving Christ-centred learning community. We are only able to do this by the witness of our committed principals, teachers, chaplains and support staff.”
Our schools have a SPIRITUAL EMPHASIS, proclaiming the gospel to both the students and the greater school communities. Knowing this is best achieved by remaining connected to Christ, Adventist Schools Australia have developed the ABIDE program which actively engages teaching and non-teaching teams to abide in Christ. School Leaders and Chaplains undergo training to lead out in this commitment and we are seeing the blessings unfold in our schools.
75% of our enrolments are from non-SDA backgrounds. Our schools strive to bring students closer to Christ through curricular and extra-curricular programs. This includes the revised Adventist Encounter Bible curriculum, Friday night and Sabbath programs and off-campus camps. As well, there are the special spiritual emphasis weeks and chaplain-led Bible studies.
Three of our schools have on-campus churches and a number of them run Adventurers and Pathfinders activities.
Through 2020, class worships, Bible classes and Chapels were conducted online and feedback from families indicated that many waited eagerly for the programs and actively participated.
When students commit themselves to God and request further Bible studies, chaplains then ensure a follow-up to these commitments is made at a local school level. In 2019 alone, these strategies resulted in 678 taking Bible studies, with 65 participating in baptismal classes. We also baptised one non-SDA teacher into our church. In addition, in 2019, seven non-Adventist parents were regularly attending church, with one baptised.
‘Service Learning’ in our communities is integral to the mission of our Schools. Consequently, before the pandemic, overseas service was a central part of school programs, with all Secondary Schools taking part in annual visits to Vanuatu (Edinburgh College), Cambodia (Nunawading Christian College), Myanmar (Gilson College and Henderson College) and Nepal (Heritage College). These trips are often life-changing events for our students as they develop leadership and team skills, and invariably engender a compassion for those people who do not live the privileged life so often taken for granted by the western world.
It became evident during 2021, that, thanks to our ASV ecosystem, LEARNING AND TEACHING can take place in almost any situation. Our professional development over the years had prepared our teachers for a new way of teaching, An invaluable part of the solution to last year’s challenges in allaying negative impacts on our students was collectively staying connected to them, as we continued to transform our school cultures to thriving Christ-centred e-learning communities.
Effective practices of our educators include, as mentioned, a culture and framework of abiding in Christ and a strategic focus on the professional development to building the capacity of our educators with practical skills.
To assist with digital skills, ASV employed two digital educators and offer an Information Technology helpdesk. And there is a strong emphasis on partnering with professional external service suppliers for training and coaching. Our schools also have Wellbeing Officers and augment collaborative assistance in identifying and supporting students with additional learning needs
ASV predicted in the 2017 Constituency Report an ENROLMENT PROJECTION of 2600 students by the end of 2020 (in 2016 there were 2321 enrolments). In reality, we had over 2700 students –more than 100 above our own predictions! This is a 17% increase. This increase is in contrast with many other private sector schools who have not shown increases, with some actually in decline. Praise God for His blessing.
We have also seen growth in our Early Learning Sector with five of our eight campuses now having ELCs, and it is anticipated that in the next quadrennium enrolments in ELC’s will double. And in our schools, enrolments are up to 2841 and we project that by 2024, we will have more than 3200 enrolments with ELC students further adding to this total.
To provide the quality education ASV offers, our EMPLOYMENT includes a carefully selected workforce of 290 full and part time teachers who are crucial to providing competent learning structures and modelling Christian values to our students. More than 240 permanent ancillary staff as well as casual ancillary staff are employed, perfoming vital tasks for the smooth operation of our schools.
State and Federal governmental grants have greatly assisted with INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT in our schools expansion programs. In the last four years, all our schools have received significant grants for various large-scale projects. In its 2020 round of funding approvals, the Victorian Independent Schools Block Grant Authority approved a total of over 2.5 million dollars, which will fund projects at Nunawading Christian College and Henderson College.
Education is not without its CHALLENGES. With continued growth, there is a need for at least 30 new teachers each year. Avondale University College has been an outstanding source of educators however ASV is also reliant on Adventist graduates from local universities to fill these positions. Please pray for this need, and if you know a young person studying education at a local university, please let ASV know so it can contact them and encourage them to take their teaching placements in our schools with the view to future employment.
With Melbourne being one of the fastest growing cities in Australia, there is a continual search for land on the growth fringe to establish new schools. The cost of land is high so if you know of a suitable opportunity to purchase direct from the landowner, please let ASV know.
ASV also hopes to increase the number of ELC’s but even with the governmental assistance, this is an expensive operation.
God is leading in our schools. He blesses and watches over these communities. ASV’s Mission Statement is to Connect our school communities with Jesus Christ, and it’s strategies continue to make this our schools’ focus.
Thank you for your prayers and support for ASV as together we work to bring the good news of salvation through Christ, and of His soon return, to our school communities.
Mr Brian Mercer
Education Director
